Broward School Board fires principal, teacher accused of harming children

August 16, 2011|By Cara Fitzpatrick, Sun Sentinel

The Broward School Board voted Tuesday to fire a principal and a teacher, both accused in separate cases of harming children and bringing disgrace to their profession.

Darren Jones, former principal of Hallandale High School, faces child abuse charges for allegedly beating his teenage daughter with an electrical cord, bruising and scarring her body.

Russell Pittman, a former band teacher at Pines Middle School, was accused by two female students in two separate cases of grabbing their breasts.

Jones, 42, was removed from his position after the Jan. 9 incident at his home in Cooper City, and the criminal case against him is still pending. His lawyer, Eric Schwartzreich, has described Jones as a loving father trying to discipline his teenager daughter. Neither Jones or his lawyer spoke at Tuesday's meeting.

Interim Superintendent Donnie Carter wrote in his recommendation that the incident was "sufficiently notorious" to bring Jones and the education profession into "public disgrace."

The board agreed to suspend Jones without pay pending termination. He can appeal the decision.

Board members also rejected Pittman's attempt to get his job back after he was accused in separate incidents in 2004 and 2008.

In the 2008 case, Pittman said what the girl interpreted as groping was actually an awkward hug in which he accidentally grabbed her breast. He denied that the 2004 incident ever happened.

Two separate juries found Pittman, 49, not guilty of charges of lewd and lascivious molestation.

Because of that, Steve Rossi, Pittman's lawyer, said board members should give the 20-year veteran his job back. He noted Pittman had no criminal history and had always maintained his innocence.

The district fired Pittman in May 2009 while the first case was still pending. Pittman appealed to the state Division of Administrative Hearings. But an administrative law judge who heard the appeal ruled in favor of the girls and recommended the termination be upheld.

Carmen Rodriguez, a lawyer for the district, said the board's job wasn't to consider the facts in the case, but decide whether they believed the judge's decision was based on "competent, substantial evidence."

In making his ruling, Lerner cited a phone conversation that Pittman had with one of the girls in which he repeatedly apologized to her and called the incident a "big mistake."

"You're attractive. Is that a reason? You've always been, but I never looked at you like that before," Pittman said during the conversation, which was recorded by the Pembroke Pines police.

Lerner said Pittman was guilty of "misconduct in office" and "immorality."

Pittman had worked for the district since 1988, first as a music teacher at Sheridan Park and Boulevard Heights elementary schools, both in Hollywood. He moved to Pines Middle in 1995.

Rossi said his client was "disappointed" by the School Board's decision and would consider an appeal.